Spontaneous devotional service

Our first Ratha Yatra in Jaipur was a humble attempt. The devotees had just recently opened a small little centre. It was not much but they still wanted to have Ratha Yatra so we decided to keep it simple.

They had one chariot. A life member made a little stage and in India, it is quite common that the stage is built to the height of the chariot. When the chariot stops people go to the stage and make offerings to the deity. So they had one such stage at the end of the procession.

But as the parade started, the local people of Jaipur got interested, “Hey, what is that? You are having a festival? Oh, we are joining in!” Further along, a drum band appeared out of nowhere and joined the parade. At the end, there were elephants marching as well! As it was getting dark, a group of men came carrying lights on their head and all this was not organised. It just happened! The people of Jaipur welcomed Ratha Yatra. There was just spontaneous devotional service. That is the result of chanting Hare Krsna. There will be spontaneous devotional service and then it will spread.